Jesus, Take the Wheel
by TinyDancer14
Summary: She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention, she was going way too fast. And before she knew it, she was spinnin' on a thin black sheet of glass.


**Heyyy! What did I say? You were going to see something from me very soon, lol. And there'll be more where this came from, especially if you don't like this. This would happen to be a one-shot songfic to Carrie Underwood's song "Jesus, Take the Wheel" which I absolutely adore. It's not really a songfic, I guess, cuz I don't use the entire song. But still, I'm counting it as one anyway. Please review, because I really want to know what you think. This was just a random one-shot to get me out of my writer's block. But pleeeeeezzzz tell me if you like it or not, because your opinions can keep this out of the recycling bin.**

**Or... they could send it there. Either way, it's up to you.  
**

**I don't own High School Musical or any of its characters, I do not belong to Disney or Hollywood records, therefore I am not affiliated with Carrie Underwood and do not own her song. Sounds good to me. (:**  


* * *

Jesus, Take the Wheel

Snowflakes glistened in the early morning December sun, falling peacefully on the frozen Ohio terrain and creating a blanket of white fluffy flakes. A cool wintry breeze swept through the air, ruffling the bare branches of the tall trees outside of a particular white house. Icicles frozen to the roof and porch of this house wavered in the breeze, threatening to fall and penetrate the bare shrubs below. A tall man dressed in a parka and snow boots threw a newspaper onto their driveway, which hadn't been paved yet, and shook his head, knowing from the noise coming from the house they wouldn't be getting the paper that morning.

As tranquil as it looked from outside, the Bolton residence was far from serene. Inside the little house Troy Bolton and his wife Gabriella had bought, there was an ongoing argument between the two. The house was not heated with warmth, but with anger and outrage, as the not-so newlyweds continued to discuss whether this was a good idea or not.

It had all been because of some crazy party that got too out of hand senior year of college. Both Troy and Gabriella had had too much to drink, and, out of consequence, slept together without using protection. Sure, they've had sex before, but they'd only done it once without using a contraceptive. They'd only done it _once_, but once is all it takes. Soon after graduation, they married, after they'd learned Gabriella was expecting. They thought it was no big deal, as they were very much in love and could handle anything.

But it was a big deal. With Troy working two jobs, he was never very much help when it came to their child, and Gabriella, exhausted from hours upon end with no sleep and from her own paying job, needed a break. Sarah, their newborn daughter, had colic, which enabled her to absolutely no sleep whatsoever, which left Gabriella not only drained, but annoyed at the constant crying. Whenever she told him to start taking more time to be a father, he blew up, and the two had been having the same argument ever since.

This morning, December twenty-fourth, was no exception.

Currently, the two were standing at opposite sides of the kitchen table, completely disgusted and flipping out on each other. Troy, clad in a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a grey t-shirt, stood on one side, staring his wife down like she was the one in the wrong position here. Gabriella, wearing a white blouse and a black skirt with matching black high-heels, stood waving around a handful of bills, her face red and contorted with anger. Sarah wailed in the background, certainly not helping the matter.

"If you can't freaking find time to spend with your daughter, could tell me why these bills aren't paid?? They're all overdue!" Gabriella asked, her voice raised to a high scornful pitch.

"Maybe because I work fourteen hours a day! You pay them!" He shot back, pushing her hand back towards her own face.

"Um, did you ever stop to think that maybe I have a job too? The school would kill me if I didn't show up!"

Troy snorted. "That's one less person I'd have to worry about."

Gabriella gasped, shocked that he'd ever consider saying something like that. "I can't believe you just said that!! You freaking jerk!"

"If I'm such a jerk, why bother even staying? Why don't you just leave?" Troy shouted. He cringed at the sound of his daughter's whining. "And shut the baby up while you're at it. All she does is cry!"

"She has colic, Troy. It's not her fault! Maybe if you held her, or even less _looked_ at her, she'd calm down!"

"I do hold her, Gabriella. I don't know what you're talking about. Just because I don't spend as much time with her as you do-"

Gabriella screamed in frustration, "What the hell are you talking about?? You NEVER hold her! Are you still counting that _one_ time in the hospital? That doesn't freaking count, Troy. You're her father, you should want to hold her!"

"I don't know what more you want from me, Gabriella. But I'd sure as hell like for you to tell me." Troy yelled back icily.

"I want you to pay the bills. I want you to feed the baby. I want you to love your family! Ever since you got that new job... we just haven't seen you since September!!"

Troy lost it. All of the energy, the stress, the rage- he just let it all out. "Damn it, Gabriella! I work six to four at the office, and then four-thirty to ten at the store! I get six and a half hours of sleep _every day_ and you still want more from me? I don't have any time for anything else, Gabriella!! I can't just sit down and sign my name on a few sheets of paper because I don't have any freaking time! I get one day, _one _day off, and you're telling me that I have to pay the bills. Gabriella, I don't want my whole freaking life to revolve around work!"

Gabriella shrunk back, completely pissed and somewhat surprised that he had used that tone with her. Sure, they'd fought before, but never like this. "Troy, do you think that my life is that simple? I work seven to four every day too! I still have to shop for food and clothes, pick Sarah up from child care, grade papers, organize worksheets, make up tests and _still_ try and find time to make dinner. Sarah is so sick with this colic that I get _no_ hours of sleep, and here you are, yelling at me, criticizing _me_ of all people. Damn it, Troy. It's not that simple!! Can't you do one thing I ask? Just one?"

Tears brimmed her eyes and Troy knew he was hurting her. He knew how much this life was taking a toll on her and wished so badly to go back to that night. He wished they had made the right decision and used a condom. Because, it's not that he didn't want to marry her, or that he didn't want a child, it was just way too soon. Troy watched as Gabriella sighed loudly and left the room, retrieving their four-month-old daughter before appearing back again, telling him this wasn't over.

Juggling the wailing baby and the armful of bills, Gabriella cried, "I'm going to visit my parents. I'll probably be about an hour. Not that you care."

With that, she chucked the bills at his face, turning on her heel and storming out of the room. She walked quietly to the nursery to grab the diaper bag, all the while rocking the still hysterical infant. She slung the bag over her shoulders and whispered soothing nothings to her daughter, hoping something could placate her. But no such luck.

Gabriella inhaled sharply as the bitter cold ate through her small jacket and reached her skin, causing goose bumps to arise immediately. She adjusted the blanket on the Sarah's infant seat, and unlocked her car, strapping her in safely.

"Come on, baby, we're gonna go for a ride."

Sarah seemed to understand, and tears began to stop spilling from her baby blue eyes. His baby blue eyes. Gabriella sighed and fastened a pink crotched hat to her head, already chock full of curly brown hair. Her brown hair.

Gabriella climbed into the driver's seat, taking a painful look at the house before backing out and hitting the highway. As she drove on, she realized her pain was more anger than it was anything else. She gripped the steering wheel even tighter and pushed harder on the gas pedal, speeding through the icy wonderland of Ohio.

_She was driving last Friday on her way to Cincinnati on a snowy white Christmas Eve  
Going home to see her mama and her daddy with the baby in the backseat  
Fifty miles to go and she was running low on faith and gasoline  
It'd been a long hard year_

A thick mound of snow covered the small yellow speed limit sign. Gabriella hadn't even noticed it, but she was definitely not doing thirty-five. She wanted to get to her parents' house before the gas tank hit empty and not be stranded in the cold wintry evening. However, with fifty miles left and only twenty-five miles on her car, it didn't seem like she would make it.

"Come on, come on!! I've gotta get there!" Gabriella shouted to no one in particular, as Sarah was finally fast asleep.

But then, in a whirlwind of taxes, bills, jobs, babies, fighting, and speeding, Gabriella hit a thin sheet of black ice. The car began to swerve right then left, before completely spinning, making a circular motion. She uttered a cry of horror and didn't know what to do. As the car spun on the ice, blurring with a wintry mix of ice, snow and terror, Gabriella threw her hands off the wheel, hoping by some miracle she'd be alright.

_She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention- she was going way too fast  
And before she knew it she was spinning on a thin black sheet of glass  
She saw both their lives flash before her eyes, she didn't even have time to cry  
She was so scared  
She threw her hands up in the air_

_Jesus, take the wheel  
Take it from my hands_  
'_Cause I can't do this on my own  
I'm letting go  
So give me one more chance  
Save me from this road I'm on  
Jesus, take the wheel_

Gabriella slowly opened her eyes about an hour later. She sighed with relief when she saw that both she and Sarah were alright. She had thought through the whole thing that they were both going to die, and that she wouldn't ever get to see Troy again. This put her life into perspective as she bowed her head, beginning to do the one thing she hadn't done in a very long time- pray.

"Jesus, thank you for letting me and my daughter survive such a terrible accident. I'm sorry for the way I've been living my life, and I know I've got to change. I will work things out with Troy, I will work towards a better tomorrow, and I will live with a better outlook on life. Thank you for giving us a second chance."

_It was still getting colder and she made it to the shoulder when the car came to a stop  
She cried when she saw that baby in the backseat sleeping like a rock  
And for the first time in a long time, she bowed her head to pray  
She said, "I'm sorry for the way I've been living my life.  
I know I've got to change so from now on tonight..."_

Gabriella took a deep breath and reached into her purse, grasping her cell phone and quickly dialing a towing company. She knew there would be no way she'd get out of that ditch alone...

Meanwhile, back at home, Troy was pacing the living room floor, anxiously awaiting any sign of Gabriella and Sarah. Cell phone clutched in one hand and house phone in the other, he sighed, knowing that what he'd said earlier had upset her. Damn it, if he'd only listened to her! If he'd only done what she'd said! He was nervous, now. Afraid that something _had_ happened to her. God, he'd kill himself if something ever happened to her. That's how much he loved her; that's how much he cared.

Suddenly, as the clock struck seven o' clock, Troy had a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. Glancing out the window, he noticed that the blizzard was picking up, and he couldn't see past his front lawn. Damn, he had been such an ass! How could he have spoken to her like that? He twisted his wedding ring around his finger nervously and sat upon the couch, needing to do something he hadn't in a long, long time.

"Dear Jesus, if you please let Gabriella and Sarah come home safely, I promise to never yell at her like that again. I don't think you understand how much I need her. How much I need them. Please, Jesus, I'm giving up. This is my last hope." He sunk his head in his hands and for the first time in a long time, Troy Bolton actually cried.

_Jesus, take the wheel  
Take it from my hands_  
'_Cause I can't do this on my own  
I'm letting go  
So give me one more chance  
Save me from this road I'm on  
Jesus, take the wheel_

Just then, the sound of a very large truck broke him out of his trance. He jumped up and ran to the window, to see Gabriella stepping safely out of the truck and thanking the man who'd brought her home. He waved and pulled out of the driveway as Gabriella hauled Sarah's car seat into the house.

She didn't even make it fully into the house before he enveloped her in a hug, holding her petite frame as close as he could, and breathing in the scent of pine that still lingered in her hair. She hugged back awkwardly, not really sure of what to do. He was pissed at her before, how was she supposed to handle this? Troy pulled back and stared at her for a moment, before kissing her frozen chapped lips in a warm and enchanting embrace.

"Damn it, Gabriella. Where have you been?" Troy asked, but this time not in anger, but in sheer concern. He peeled off her coat and hung it on the rack beside the door. "I was so worried something happened to you."

Gabriella opened her mouth in response, but was cut off by a shrill cry coming from the carrier next to her feet. Groaning, she reached down to take the infant, but was ushered away by Troy.

"No, let me." He stated simply, and lifted Sarah into his arms, cooing softly to her. "Come on, baby. I bet you're hungry."

Gabriella followed him into the kitchen and watched in surprise as he warmed up a bottle and fed Sarah without a complaint. She also took notice of the neatly stacked bills on the counter- all of them paid.

"Troy, you didn't have to do this. I would've done it when I got home, I guess." She spoke in a low, grave tone that told him she wasn't used to this.

"Gabriella, we haven't been the same since college. I wanted to bring some of that back." Troy explained, sitting down on the couch with Sarah, Gabriella right next to him.

"Troy..." She started out, taking a slow, calming breath. "Today, Sarah and I were in a car accident. I was speeding because I wanted to get home before I ran out of gas, and we hit a sheet of black ice."

Troy's eyes widened as he thought, _Damn it to hell, something _did_ happen to her_. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, but my car's not. The car kept spinning and spinning... I didn't know what to do. I was so scared and then it flew into this ditch and hit a tree. But Jesus... He saved us. He kept us from dying. And it's all because I prayed, Troy. I prayed that I would see you again to make things right. I prayed that some how Sarah would overcome this colic bought. I was so afraid we were going to die."

"Gabriella I'm so sorry I said any of those things to you today. Hearing this just makes me face the reality that at any second, I could lose you. And I can't deal with that. I love you, Gabriella. I was a complete jerk today... and I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," Gabriella began, sinking into Troy as he set the sleeping infant down beside them. "I'm sorry I've been pressing you so hard about the bills and Sarah... I know you're really stressed out and I understand that. You just... need to find some time for yourself. And for us."

As Troy hugged Gabriella close, he prayed to Jesus again. He thanked him for giving him such a wonderful life, with Gabriella and Sarah to keep him going. He thanked him for giving him a successful job that paid him enough to buy this wonderful house. He thanked Jesus for finally letting him see how an accident could make him see just how good he's got it.

But most of all, he thanked Jesus for taking the wheel.


End file.
